Giddish, who has played hardened detective Amanda Rollins on the NBC drama since 2011, revealed in February that the show’s disturbing story lines began to affect her differently when she became a mom. “It hits a little closer to home when bad things happen to children,” she told New Zealand website Stuff.co. “There’s one episode we’ve just finished filming that very much deals with a child and I couldn’t keep it together.”

The Georgia native praised the SVU cast and crew and described them as being like “family.” After she gave birth to Ludo in 2015, Giddish couldn’t wait to get back to the set. “I had my kid and they gave me all the time I needed, but of course, I love to work,” she explained to Stuff. “So I was going, ‘Excuse me, I’m waiting to come back to work.’”

Giddish recalled how everyone supported her when Faulborn was sick. “My husband got very ill when I had a six-month-old baby,” the All My Children alum revealed.” He was in the hospital for two months, completely paralyzed and they once again rallied around me. The job, the people I work with and for, I can’t say another good things about.”